Images shot on Kentmere 400 in the Yashica Electro 35 GSN
Back in February 2019, I spent a week or so in Yuhuan, a little city on China’s east coast. I’ve written about the place before, like in this longer post here.
While there this time, I shot a roll of Kentmere 400 film. You may have already seen some of the results from it here. The ones in this post you’re reading right now, from that same roll, were shot in Yuhuan’s main park.
The Kentmere film turned out to not be my favourite, as I found the contrast a little flat. That’s not important, though. What is important is that I shot it and found this out for myself.
Because that means, whatever I think of the film, I at least have some photographs to show from the endeavour, and that’s better than having no photographs. So let’s get into seeing them.
Contents
A few from the fairground
A sizeable section of Yuhuan Park is taken up by a fairground, which is dominated by the landmark Ferris wheel.
I got a couple of shots of people on a couple of rides, by putting myself in position and waiting for them to come round. Of course, when you do this, they come round countless times, which gives you plenty of opportunity to get your picture.
Getting faces is usually preferable to the backs of people’s heads for me, and I kind of got eye contact too with the lady in the spaceship.
The girls on the swing would have worked better in colour, I think. In monochrome, they don’t stand out enough from the trees in the background. It’s all good, though. The lesson is more important than the single photograph.
I’m not sure what’s going on with the weird boats. They’re almost Disney but just not quite.
People in the park
Away from the fairground, there were plenty of people in Yuhuan Park to include in a few more photographs.
The first bunch crossed my path and gave a foreground to the towering apartment block I’d lined up for the background. The guy in the second shot is perhaps dreaming about building a forest city.
For the third image, I tried to go with some depth and layers on the bridge. The people standing gradually further away kind of works, and I suppose it’s an added bonus they’re getting progressively younger too.
The final one is of a guy who wanted his photograph taken. I had lined up the shot but, for some reason that I don’t now remember, didn’t take one.
When he saw me move the camera away from my face, he gestured for me to put it back and shoot him, complete with a friendly wave.
Shooting anything is better than shooting nothing
That’s nine photographs shot in Yuhuan Park on a film I’m not the hugest fan of and in less than optimal light.
They’re not my best work, but they are something. They’re nine shots that I can publish here for you to see and decide what you think of them for yourself.
At the very least, they keep my creating of photography ticking over. I think they’re more valuable than that, though. They’re a learning experience.
I learned that messy backgrounds like those trees behind the girls on the swing don’t always come out well in monochrome. I also learned during my time in Yuhuan as a whole that I prefer JCH Street Pan 400 to Kentmere 400.
The only reason I learned these things, and plenty of other stuff too during my time doing film photography, is that I went and did some.
The results don’t have to be world-beating every time. The important thing is to get out and #shootfilmmakesomething 🙂
If you liked that little look at Yuhuan Park and want more essays illustrated with film photography, why not have a peek at some of these:
And if you think others will find this post worth a read, help them find it by giving it a share 😀
